“I Quit”

But twelve years later, the tide has turned once again. Rice recently spread this news  via her facebook page:

Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten …years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of …Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

–Anne Rice, author 2010

You can imagine all the  atheists eating this for lunch, can’t you? Can’t you smell the delight over  someone famous  leaving Christianity? Everyone likes having a public figure on their team. Free endorsements!

However…

Not Good Enough

Good for Rice that she finally recognized the mess of this religion. I understand not wanting to identify with much of Christianity—especially the fundamentalist branches that make a business out of being anti-everyone–but that’s not good enough!

Rice is clearly not abandoning her mythology and superstitious delusions. She’s leaving conservative, fundamentalist  Christianity behind and making a political stand out of it. But what about liberal Christianity that is still based on the same myths, but is dressed up in hipster clothing and a laissez faire attitude? When Rice realizes the whole shit n’ caboodle is based on a false premise, then perhaps she might leave for good.  Perhaps.

What do you think?

(hat tip goodreasonnews)

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I tried to avoid clichés and other over-cooked wordaphernalia. Use my contact form if you have some favorites you think are worthy of that sort of list. In other words, don’t tell me “Atheism is a non-prophet organization” thinking I’ll find it original and witty. It’s not.

Enjoy!

from 'Wonderfully Made' (1967)

I used to think my education about sexuality and reproduction was sub-par, but this woman who wrote in to the advice column Ask Amy takes the cake, cookies, and the whole damn tub of ice cream.

Dear Amy: My husband and I are devout Catholics. We have chosen to protect the innocence of our 7-year-old son by not educating him about the “facts of life” until he hits puberty.

We have told him that the Virgin Mary puts a baby on your doorstep if you pray for one. He is in a Catholic school, so we don’t have to worry about “sexual education.”

My sister knows about our choice, but she does not approve of it. She is pregnant. Recently, she wore a “Baby on Board” T-shirt when visiting.

Our son asked about it, but I did not know what to tell him! What should I do if a problem like this arises in the future?

— Worried Mom

My reaction:

And then I nearly peed myself.

This is ridiculous even for Catholics. This poor child—who will undoubtedly discover the magical powers of his penis before his parents even admit he has one—can only be defined as a victim. His parents’ efforts to shelter him from all knowledge and curiosity will fail miserably thanks to his friends, television, the internet, and print media. They may be Super Catholics™, but they don’t live in a bubble.

I can understand the desire to protect your children from the more crude and basic aspects of life as much as possible, but by blatantly lying about something as obvious as  Mary “the Stork” Mother of Jesus and the fact that babies grow in a mother’s womb they are also killing his trust in them later once he finds out they deceived him. Why should he listen to anything they have to say about sex or the bible when they lie about something so innocent?

One of the main thrusts of Catholic morality is to wait until marriage to have intercourse. If this boy doesn’t learn that babies are a natural consequence of intercourse, he will be even more likely to go out and have sex early on, won’t he? And what a surprise it would be to have a young girl pregnant and the parents hearing their son say, “But I didn’t pray to Mary for a baby. Why did she bring one?”

Don’t even get me started with the mother’s offense at a “Baby On Board” t-shirt.

Oh, but let’s not forget the columnist’s response! Here’s what Amy said:

Dear Mom: You could ask your son’s teachers or clergy for guidance, but because you’re asking me, I’ll respond by asking you: Isn’t an essential element of the drama of Jesus’ birth that he was born of a human mother?

In the biblical version of “Baby on Board,” wasn’t Mary “great with child” when she and Joseph stumbled into Nazareth?

A baby isn’t a newspaper, left on the doorstep by an omnipotent delivery person.

All animals and humans give birth to babies, and even if you don’t want to explain how babies are conceived, it is both truthful and religiously defensible to tell your son that babies grow inside their mother’s bodies (or “tummies”) until they are born. If you want to fabricate the story of how they got there, go for it.

Bravo, and I hope she gets some sense knocked into her.

P.S. The image in this blog post is from Wonderfully Made—an amusing children’s book about families from the point of view of the 1960′s Catholic church. Check it out. Classic gold!

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone repeat that damned clichéd quote, I’d turn a profit.

“We often add to our pain and suffering by being overly sensitive, over-reacting to minor things, and sometimes taking things too personally.” — Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama

This is worthy enough for a tattoo on my arm–except that I want to scrub it out of my life. I live this out almost every day. I seem programmed for detailed observation of others, assigning meaning to actions, facial expressions, words, and even silence. I take certain things very seriously and personally even when I shouldn’t. I’ve never had a thick skin, but I’m at least making my thin skin more “elastic” over time. I think that as we grow as adults, we turn off our “give a damn” sensitivity more easily and start shrugging off the things others say and do that used to make us over-react.

Enough about me; what’s your most recent life lesson?

godlessgirl

(GG)

Hey Jesus, I hope you enjoyed your short stay in hell. I'm sure those who burn eternally will appreciate the gracious, leisurely visit.

On 31-1-2010 10:51:25 from HootSuite

godlessgirl

(GG)

Hey Jesus, think you could have been someone else besides a rabbi who teaches in riddles? What do u want to do, weed out the dumb ones?

On 31-1-2010 10:52:46 from HootSuite

godlessgirl

(GG)

Hey Jesus, If you are bodily up in heaven right now, then heaven has to be within the physical universe, right? So how far is it from here?

On 31-1-2010 10:55:09 from HootSuite

godlessgirl

(GG)

Hey Jesus, if we're not 'sposed to put God to the test, he could at least return the favor.

On 31-1-2010 10:57:19 from HootSuite

godlessgirl

(GG)

Hey Jesus, you can tell me the truth--you think the apostle Paul is a douche too, right? right? *nudge*

On 31-1-2010 10:59:04 from HootSuite

I’ll let you know if I get a reply. What would you ask Jesus?

And for those who preach against alcohol but want all the perks of a goofy buzz:

Bonus from Lamebook:

I like how Pat knows the “devil” so well that he knows what was said in this “deal”.

There is no hell, so I can’t tell this crazy man to go there and hide in a lonely corner to fuck himself with hot pokers. Robertson, you’ve lost your marbles and we all know it. Go take your sorry hatred, ignorance, and lies into a long period of retirement. Don’t ever speak again, because you’ve shamed yourself and your “soul” too many times. In the name of the dead and suffering in Haiti, you don’t deserve the voice you have.

(via)

I read a note on facebook that struck me as  rather amusing, yet at the same time naive and perhaps a bit misguided. Do you see it that way? As back-story, there is a facebook status meme floating around where you post the color of your bra in order to raise awareness about breast cancer. I think it’s silly, since we all know about breast cancer already and this won’t do anything for those with it, nor the research to end it. However, in the long run I don’t give a damn what your status message is. Apparently, though, some men don’t like it. Here’s one response:

Imagine yourself in front of a room full of every single guy you are friends with on Facebook. Imagine yourself telling each one of them what your bra color is.
Does that weird you out? Yes? Then don’t post the color of your bra in your status.

Not weirded out yet? Then consider that some of the guys reading your status are glad you posted that because it helps them imagine your boobs better. Some of them are grateful to you because you have made it easier to fantasize about you.

Are you ok with that? Then realize some of your guy friends struggle with purity & DON’T WANT to know your bra color. Even if you are comfortable announcing facts about your bra to every single guy in front of you, don’t post your bra color status in consideration of those guys whose lives will be made harder because of it.

Think I am taking a joke & making a big moral issue out of it? Sorry you feel that way. You are entitled to your opinion. I am not the only one that feels this way though. Think it is all just for fun? Ok – aren’t there other ways to have fun that don’t cause your guy friends to think of your boobs?

Sincerely,
JoeBob* & a bunch of guys

Interestingly enough, there were 19 likes and 22 comments of agreement in response to this note. What do you honestly think about this young (married, if it matters) man’s reaction? Do you laugh and mock or do you admire him for his desire for a healthy thought life? What if this man was Atheist–would that make a difference to your impression?

Nick A dot: so you dont believe in aliens?
xxh0tsumm3rfunxx: no
Nick A dot: so you believe that in this whole unfathamably huge universe, we’re the ONLY life?
xxh0tsumm3rfunxx: yep, thats the way God made it
xxh0tsumm3rfunxx: and theyre not mentioned in the bible so they obviously dont exist
Nick A dot: i see… do you believe in dinosaurs?
xxh0tsumm3rfunxx: well yeah of course, weve found their remains!
Nick A dot: yeah, but THEYRE not mentioned in the bible
xXH0tsuMm3RfUnXx is offline

HellPopeHuey: So, didja get some real work?
Epoch: yeah, today I cleaned viruses off a pc at a baptist church… viruses obtained by SURFING PR0N
HellPopeHuey: Jesus saves… your History

<Ender_CN> I read the bible, as soon as I found out god was jesus’ father I knew it was just a cheap star wars rip off so I stopped

*** Now talking in #christian
-Word_of_God- Welcome Abstruse to #christian I am a Bible Bot. For more info type: /msg Word_of_God !info
<Abstruse> !kjv numbers 22:21
<Word_of_God> Numbers 22:21 — And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. -  (KJV)
*** SageRider sets mode: +b *!*@c211-30-208-111.rivrw3.nsw.optusnet.com.au
*** Word_of_God was kicked from #christian by SageRider (Please dont Swear)
<Abstruse> I know I’m never going to be able to come back in this channel again after this, but damn was it worth it to see that…

<DannyB> some girl on the street asked if i was saved yet
<DannyB> i told her i saved at the checkpoint a couple minutes back
<DannyB> and can reload from there if i die
<DannyB> she was confused

<Duskmon> It must have blown to be one of the first outsiders to convert to Christianity.
<Duskmon> Like, you’re reading through the Bible for the first time, and then a bunch of Hebrews burst into your Church shouting “CAIN KILLS ABEL IN GENESIS FOUR VERSE EIGHT!”

<Nukleon> the greek “hell” was cold
<Nukleon> like the norse
<@amz> the christian hell is also pretty cold, compared to its heaven
<Nukleon> uh
<Nukleon> wut?
<Nukleon> heaven is bliss
<@amz> it has liquid sulfur in it, so it can’t be over 400 celsius… on the other hand, the bible describes the sun in heaven shining like 7 suns, each 7 times as bright
<@amz> which gives an estimate of 2000-3000 celsius

<@Lerou> Lag makes baby Jesus cry.
<@TempusRob> pssh
<@TempusRob> talk about lag
<@TempusRob> it took him 3 days to respawn

(source and source)